One of the hardest things about being a mom is feeling like I have to wait.
Wait until the baby is in her highchair to load the dishwasher. (She likes to steal the dirty silverware.) Wait until the kids are sleeping to work on my blog.
Wait until my husband is home to be able to grocery shop without three small-but-heavy little people attached to the cart.
Wait until he’s settled in his career/the kids are all in school/there’s enough money in the bank to pursue a little job of my own.
But there are some things we wait for for different reasons. We wait to try something new because we’re scared. Because what if we fail? Because haven’t we given all we have away already?
We wait to learn how to swim, paint, write a book, run a race, climb a mountain, open a shop, because it feels too big, it will take too long, and we don’t know where to start.
But do you really want to wait, mama?
Do you want to wait for “your turn”?
And if you just keep waiting, how will you know when “your turn” is?
Just Start.
I stumbled across Elise Blaha’s blog a couple years back. I liked it because she’s a mom, too, and because loves documenting, blue skies, and goals–all things I’m in to. And one of the things I fell in love with was Elise’s mantra: JUST START.
She talks about it, and she lives it. She sets a goal and she goes after it, and if she fails, she learns something, and she shares it with her readers.
Last year she started a podcast. (And she shared how easy it is to do that!) I’ve been a listener from the beginning, and you know what? It wasn’t perfectly polished on episode one. It’s smoother now, but it still isn’t flawless radio quality sound. But I love it. It’s one of three that I listen to regularly while I do the laundry because it’s engaging, inspiring, fun and relatable.
Relatable is so much more wonderful to me than perfect.
What do you want?
What are you dreaming of, mama?
Do you want to start small business? Run a marathon? Learn the flute? Become a nurse? Have more fun? Paint a portrait? Get your degree?
Maybe you won’t know what you’re doing at first. Who cares?
Maybe you’re going to fail once or twice or a dozen times. Failure is good.
Thomas Edison is an awesome example of enduring through failure to find a breakthrough. How did he approach his missteps and flops? This quote says it all: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Failure is an opportunity for learning. For growth. For change. For a fresh start. It’s the end point of one try and the beginning of your next. Don’t be afraid to fail, mama. Failing means you’re trying.
TODAY is THE DAY.
You don’t have to leave home. You don’t have to give up your role as full-time head-over-heals-in-love-with-those-kids “Mom.”
You can do little things, make small changes, that will lead to bigger ones. You can grow with your children, with your family. You can make naptime count. You can teach them to love what you love. (They want to love what you love!)
So go ahead, mama. Start today.
- Choose a name and open an Etsy shop.
- Open the art supplies you bought two years ago and then shoved in the closet.
- Take charge of your overwhelming calendar, piles of paper, and the whirlwind of to-dos in your brain.
- Google the requirements for your dream masters course.
- Jump on the couch to 5K bandwagon.
- Grab a Dummies book and learn about photography, a new instrument, or web design.
- Learn how to have better dinner conversations with friends or strangers.
- Take a free online class from a top university like Harvard, Stanford, or Wesleyan.
Whatever it is you’ve been waiting and wishing to do, be, or try, take the first step today.
You can eat an elephant if you take small bites–so just do one thing. Right now.
Take one step towards that thing you want so badly, and you’ll be one step closer.
You’ll get moving a little faster, a little better, and you’ll feel more confident. You’ll think maybe you can do it.
And at some point, that golden bright light forever feeling–that thrill of achievement and passion you didn’t think you could have again until it was “your turn”–is going to burst to light inside you.
But that can’t happen if you wait.
Only if you start.
It’s time, mama: go for it.
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